THE PARKE MEMORIAL FUND.

345 Mr. Heath shifts his ground to the different and wider imthe statement itself is untrue. He also makes it a,ppear as if his fresh attack sprang from my letter dealing with a part of his speech which was not reported instead of from the fact that I had made his first position untenable, thereby implying that having been deprived by the abrupt close of the meeting of the opportunity of correcting his mis-statements I might have submitted to them in silence. Mr. Heath’s second attack and so-called proof are as unfounded as the first. He states that I made my first speech on behalf of the Members in November, 1886. I beg torefer him to THE LANCET of Dec. 26th, 1885, where he will find a report of my first speech on behalf of the Members, occupying about two columns of the paper, and delivered on Dec. 17th, 1885. The speech was briefly reported’ in the British Medical Journal and inserted in extenso in the, Jfedical Times of Dec. 19th, 1885. This is an unhappy mistake in one who goes out of his way to remove the beam which he fancies that he sees in his brother’s eye and destroys Mr. Heath’s so-called proof. Both from my "literary efforts"" and my speeches, at the College in 1885 and 1886 my advancedopinions became well - known. That such opinions and their expression at the College in direct opposition to, and criticism of, the memoranda issued by the Council were injurious to my " collegiate interests" is notopen to reasonable doubt. That I was well aware of this and deliberately disregarded it at the time is shown by a passage from the very letter of Nov. 8th, 1886, to which Mr. Heath refers and which runs as follows : "From long-standing conviction and from a sense of what is due to the Members of the College and to the profession at large I have come forward again (and as I am informed and believe in opposition to my private interests) to aid a righteous and most important cause." Views such as mine, opposed to the views of thosein office at the College and of the majority of the Fellows, were certain to make any other candidate (from the point of view of Mr. Heath and his friend), as Mr. Heath says, "a more eligible candidate" for office in the College than myself. From any other point of view I trust that I may be permitted, without want of modesty, to challenge comparison of my claims to the examinership with those of any who were preferred to me. Mr. Heath’s reasons, however, for confining the meaning of the words "collegiate interests"to an application for an examinership are best known to himself. Perhaps he will explain them. Mr. Heath calls the Association ofFellows-a body which includes such high-minded and public-spirited gentlemen as Mr. George Pollock, Mr. Holmes, Dr. Robert Barnes, Mr. Gant, and others whom I need not mention and which publishes its proceedings-" a clique." To the action of this clique, which has been guided by the principle that the College is not for the Council only, but for the Fellows and Members as well, the Fellows and Members are indebted for many reforms and improvements at the College-the annual general meeting of Fellows and Members, the annual Report of the Council, the simplification of the system of voting papers, the common room at the College, and the half-yearly meeting of Fellows. To such a " cliqueII consider it an honour to belong, and I have very little doubt that such attacks as those of Mr. Heath will impart fresh vigour to its efforts for the promotion of the best interests of the greatest of all our professional institutions. I am, Sirs, yours truiy, WALTER RIVINGTON. Wimpole-street, W., Jan. 26th, 1897.

THE PARKE MEMORIAL FUND.

putation that

To tk6 Editors of THE LANCET. SIRS.—On the 13th ult. I was at the Army Medical Department, London, and in the waiting-room I noticed an appeal card for subscriptions to the above fund. The Director- General also informed me that there was a great need of further support. After leaving this office I went to Messrs. Holt and Co. of Whitehall-place, and paid in the small sum of 10s. They told me that Surgeon-Captain F. A. B. Daly was hon. secretary to the fund. 1 have to-day heard from this gentleman that a statue has been erected to the late Surgeon-Major Parke in Leinster-lawn, Dublin; that the sum of £600 has been subscribed, but that nearly £100 more is required to clear off the cost of the memorial. In THE LANCET of May 23rd, 1891, a letter appeared from Captain N. E. Stairs, headed " A Tribute to Surgeon Parke." The following week I wrote, pointing out how truly deserving Surgeon-Major Parke was of the honour of the Albert Medal. I would now take the liberty of asking those who have not already subscribed to the Parke Memorial Fund, and who would be glad to help perpetuate the memory of one of the bravest and most unselfish of our profession, to send donations to Messrs. Holt and Co., 17, Whitehall-place, London, S.W., or to myself. In either case the sums subscribed will, by the kind permission of the Editors, be acknowledged in THE LANCET. I would suggest that the amount sent by any subscriber should not be more than ten and not less than five shillings, and I would not limit this fund to only gentlemen of the medical profession. The postscript is an extract from Captain Stairs’ letter in 1891. I am, Sirs, yours faithfully, PUGIN THORNTON. Canterbury, Jan. 19tb, 1897. " I beg of you space to insert hese few lines as a small tribute to a medical man who has done his work so well and nobly. I refer to my old comrade, Dr. T. H. Parke, of the late Emin Pasha Expedition. I feel certain people have not fully realised the services of Dr. Parke to humanity. It matters nothing where or under what circumstances these services were rendered; blacks are capable of just as keen suffering and anguish as we white men are, and I therefore ask you to record the following incident, which is by far the bravest and noblest it has ever been my lot to be a witness of :-’When a portion of the Expedition was stationed at Fort Bodo, in Central Africa, Dr. Parke, who was one of the number, was seized with a violent attack of bilious remittent fever; each day he grew worse, his temperature for the whole twenty days of illness never falling below 101° F. Quinine and arsenic and all other medicines failed, and Captain Nelson and I gave up all hope of his ever recovering. He was able only to crawi slowly about his hut, and could keep nothing of the poor foods we had to give him on his stomach. In spite of this, after about fifteen days’ illness, when worn away to nothing, he crept out of his hut unawares to Nelson and myself, reached the hut of a black chief, Khamis Pari, and lanced for him a large and painful abscess, cleansed and dressed the wound, and was found by Nelson and myself in an absolutely helpless condition, and carried back by us to his hut. Next day reaction set in, and both Nelson and I expected he had only but a few hours more to live. He has never spoken to any of us, or to anyone that I know, a single word of this. I think it only fair to show to his brother medical officers what one of their number has done. Those who have suffered the agonies of a heavy fever will, I feel sure, appreciate and remember this brave action on the part ,

of Dr. Parke."

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"THE HALF-YEARLY MEETING OF THE FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND." To the Editors of THE LANCET. will be surprised that Mr. Heath has SIRS,-No to more nothing say about Mr. Anderson’s case. What could he say when he found from my letter that the propositions he advanced so confidently-viz., that the Council of the College had twice negatived a grant in aid of the appeal to the Privy Council, that such a grant would be illegal, and that the solicitor of the College had declared it to be illegal-were at variance with facts ? Nothing whatever, unless he retracted his statements-a course which I regret to think that we cannot expect from him, even when he makes public charges against individuals which are absolutely unfounded. For example, at a public meeting Mr. Heath made an entirely irrelevant attack upon my election committee for issuing a statement, and at the same time on myself for having, as a member of the Council, permitted a statement to be issued, which he regarded as reflecting on the Council of the College for its action towards me during my tenure of office on the Council. When I show that Mr. Heath’s imputation is unfounded because the statement did not relate to the period of my tenure of office as a Councillor, without retracting or expressing regret for an unfounded charge one

THE USE OF TUBERCULIN IN A DAIRY HERD. To the Editors of THE LANCET.

SIRS,-In the Farmer and Stockbreeder of Jan. llth

a,

notice appears under this heading giving an account of the result of using tuberculin as a means of distinguishing ’! between tuberculous and non-tuberculous cows on a dairy It appears farm of Mr. H. Purrott, of St. Albans. that 50 per cent. of the cows tested reacted to the test, and that of the cows supplied by a dealer to replace those rejected 30 per cent. were found to react It further appears that the cows origi to the test. nally on the farm which reacted to the test were fed off, and when slaughtered were all found to have tubercle, "but few or none in more than one organ, and not at

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